Thread: Rear Discs conversion worth it?

Originally Posted by Svengali0

My old 6x6 was an early civilian vehicle (unsure of provenance) possibly a pre-production vehicle with similar axle widths to a 110.
Having looked at the army ambulances a few times, they are wider, as is the cab- mine was a normal ute cab. As I had this car in the early nineties, I can't recall what the rear diffs had hanging from them so hence the question posted on the eBay listing. In any event, the diff casings of this rig could not be transplanted without significant effort with a gas axe and grinder but perhaps the hubs, discs and brackets could be.
I am told that the half shafts are longer for the disc braked Defenders. Can't confirm this either. Best price I've had is about $1k for complete defender disc brake rear end complete. In order to get the full benefit, a booster conversion is also indicated and I note this in Deejay's account of modification to one or more of his cars.
There's no way I could make it to Gympie (from Canberra) to pickup the item listed on eBay so maybe someone here could make use of the opportunity. It's not every day that things like this come up and I can't see it going for too much money- perhaps between $500 to $800 at a guess.

Svengali, most of your questions/queries have been answered already on here (AULRO) if you do a search.

The rear axles are ~12" wider, so no use on anything but a 6x6. However Bearman on here has the 6x6 rear disc setup on his 110 county 4x4. So at least those bits swap over.

Defender disc rears have halfshafts that are SHORTER than drum rears, not longer. So if you put defender brakes on a county you will need a ~15mm spacer between the hub and drive flange (see rhs of image):


If you put perentie discs on a county, they are designed for county-vintage axles so no modifications are needed.

EDIT - forgot to add, I kept the same MC and booster and have had no issues. The defender MC and boosted may improve things, but my brakes work very well, and as 4-wheel discs should.

See info here
Salisbury Disc Brake conversion

Drum brake 110 salisbury disc brake conversion - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

There may be also further links inside the above links

Garry

Brake pad wear 2007+ MY

So is there any difference then?? Some people say yes some people say no... I would have thought that if you were going to go through a lot of water then discs for the win.. but if this is not the case then I cant see why there would be much difference overall.. Drums are pretty simple though

Originally Posted by 85 county

But the biggest advantage is I know I will always have rear brakes to get home on and will not be grinding steel on steel or have ½ a rotor rip the caliper off ( seen that a couple of times)

Seriously, how common is that - never seen it happen...

However what has happened to me is I have had a drum lining delaminate - which meant loss of brakes on a IIA with a single circuit system.

The 110 is dual circuit - so if you lose the rear brakes you still have the front and vice versa. I just did ~3500 km on just the front brakes (on the highway) with no issues.

At the end of the day they each have their advantages and disadvantages, and it comes down to personal preference. Who are you to deride people who have fitted disks as "puddle jumpers" or those who wish to have "bragging rights".

IME discs are easier to work on, are better after water crossings (not all of us live in the desert that is SA), and run cooler, meaning less brake fade. IMHO the advantages outweigh the disadvantages you mention. (especially since my discs came free with a locked axle).

Originally Posted by klappers

So is there any difference then?? Some people say yes some people say no... I would have thought that if you were going to go through a lot of water then discs for the win.. but if this is not the case then I cant see why there would be much difference overall.. Drums are pretty simple though

I have mentioned the advantages of discs above. Perth is flat and dry, and if you do a lot of sand driving you might get accelerated pad wear. So in your case there would be no benefit changing to discs as long as you don't mind adjusting drums, unless you regularly need to do creek crossings.